Rebel Wilson awarded millions in Australia defamation case

Richard Shotwell / AP

In this Oct. 19, 2016, file photo, Rebel Wilson attends the 5th Annual Australians in Film Awards at NeueHouse Hollywood in Los Angeles. A judge on Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2017 awarded Wilson 4.56 million Australian dollars ($3.66 million) in damages over magazine articles she said cost her roles in Hollywood films. A jury in Australia’s Victoria state had decided in June the articles claiming she lied about her age, origins of her first name and her upbringing in Sydney were defamatory.

Associated Press

Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2017 | 12:30 a.m.

MELBOURNE, Australia — A judge awarded Rebel Wilson record damages of 4.56 million Australian dollars ($3.66 million) on Wednesday over magazine articles the actress said cost her roles in Hollywood films.

A Supreme Court jury in Australia's Victoria state had decided in June the articles claiming she lied about her age, origins of her first name and her upbringing in Sydney were defamatory.

Justice John Dixon said a substantial award amount was required to "vindicate" Wilson after her reputation as an "actress of integrity was wrongly damaged."

Bauer Media, publisher of the Australian magazines Woman's Day, Australian Women's Weekly, NW and OK, said it was considering the judgment.

The 37-year-old Wilson, best known for the comedies "Pitch Perfect" and "Bridesmaids," was in London on Wednesday and her lawyers were unable to immediately talk to her about the decision.

Her lawyer Richard Leder said outside court the damages were about four times higher than the previous Australian record for a defamation case.

Her legal team would also apply for Bauer to pay all her legal costs, Leder said.

"Rebel said that this case wasn't about money," Leder told reporters. "She said that it was about holding Bauer Media to account."

Wilson has previously said via Twitter that any damages she won would be donated to a charity, scholarship or invested into the Australian film industry.

She had sought more than AU$7 million.

Bauer Media had branded that damages claim "extraordinarily large" and made on the "most tenuous of basis."

Bauer lawyer Georgina Schoff told the judge that Wilson had failed to prove the articles caused her financial losses.

Bauer failed to prove the articles published in 2015 were substantially true or that they were unlikely to harm her career.

The jury found Bauer had said Wilson lied about her age, claiming to be six years younger, and had falsely claimed to have been named Rebel at birth.

They also found Bauer had said Wilson lied about having a hallucination about winning an Academy Award while sick with malaria, about her parents being dog trainers, about being related to U.S. entertainment entrepreneur Walt Disney and about being raised in a "ghetto" area of Sydney.